Kiki Lin, ’25, is a Computer Science major studying at Hanyang University this Summer 2023
I’ve been in Seoul, South Korea for roughly about 2 weeks now and have already done a week of schooling at Hanyang University. The program I’m doing is Hanyang International Summer School which is an intensive program. The general overview schedule of this schedule is that it is Monday to Thursday, from 9am to roughly 7pm and sometimes 6pm depending on the courses you take.
I live at a Hanyang-affiliated housing called “Hanyang Habitat.” I get a small room with a shower and bathroom area. There is a shared common area and a kitchen on the 3F. I think if you are 5’7” and under, it’ll be comfortable. If not, I would look elsewhere to stay as the bed is quite small. Despite the small room, I think this place is great. I was able to meet with other people doing the same summer program and so it was nice to know people.
My school day starts around 8:00am. Ideally, that’s when I want to wake up. I get up, get ready and get out the door by 8:30am. The first thing I do is walk to GS25, a convenience store that’s a 2-minute walk away from my stay. I always get a strawberry milk drink and if I’m feeling a little famished, I also buy myself a kimbap. The great thing about convenience stores in Korea is that they have a lot of breakfast options for very cheap. Generally, my morning GS25 run will cost less than 5,000krw, which is $4 USD, for a solid breakfast and drink.
Then I make my way towards Hanyang campus to Engineering Building 1, where my classes are located in. Depending on what courses you registered for, you’ll either end at 6pm or 7pm. From 9am-12pm, I’m taking the Advertising and Promotions class. Then everybody has lunch between 12pm-1pm and I usually go to the Hanyang Plaza but there are many cafeterias and food places around campus to check out! From 1pm-4pm is the next class session and I’m taking Techno English Presentation Skills. Lastly, from 4pm-6pm, I decided to take the Korean Pop Dance elective.
After school, I go home to rest a bit and to cool off as it’s hot and humid. From this point on, I do whatever I want to do. Sometimes I go out to dinner myself at a local Korean restaurant or maybe I go out to eat with friends at a bigger restaurant. I even sometimes go explore a new neighborhood and grab dinner there afterward. I can also work on school assignments. In addition, every week, Hanyang has something called a “SumTour” which are activities that Hanyang organizes that a group of people that signed up can do together! Some examples of activities are taking a class at 1 Million Dance Studio, going to a baseball game, visiting palaces, etc. During the first week, I signed up to go to 1 Million Dance Studio and that was such a fun experience! These activities are during the week and usually after classes.
Finally, at the end of the night, I get home by 12am as trains usually stop running by 12:30am. That is an overview of what a typical day is like studying at Hanyang University. A saying I like to say is “It is what you make it.” I want to have fun and experience a lot of Korea so I put myself out there, make friends, and explore.
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